How Keith Urban Explained the Las Vegas Shooting to His Daughter

Like most people who woke up on Monday (Oct. 1) to the news of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Keith Urban was "shell-shocked." But he was forced to find careful words to explain the heartache to his young daughter, Sunday, who asked why he was so upset.

During a candlelit vigil for the 59 victims of the Vegas shooting, Urban told the story of taking Sunday to school the next morning, and how it was a more melancholy Monday drive than most.

"My 9-year-old, as I was driving her to school this morning, said to me, ‘Dad, you seem quiet.’" Urban recalls." I said, ‘Yeah, a lot of people (were) killed last night.’ She said, ‘Did you know any of them?’ and I said, ‘Not that I know of.'"

"Then she said, ‘Then why are you so sad?'" he continues. "I said, ‘First of all, these were innocent people horrifically taken, and secondly, they’re like family.' It’s the one thing about country music that’s always been the center of it — it is community. So I did know those people, in that way."

Urban followed the touching sentiments with a powerful performance of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel for the hundreds who gathered at Nashville's Ascend Amphitheater to mourn on Monday evening. Earlier in the night, Vince Gill offered a touching tribute with his moving rendition of "Go Rest High on the Mountain" that led into a sing-along to "Amazing Grace."